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Most efficient way to keep track of searches?

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Tina

Tina Report 13 Dec 2005 11:11

I am just starting out and I am amazed at the number of searches avaiable to us for each individual we find. To make sure I have looked at all possible resources online for each individual, I want to put all possible searches into some kind of spreadsheet, with names of relatives down one side, so I can check off each one as I do them. Before I design one myself, does anyone know of something similar which I could adapt and use? Otherwise I get so excited when i find a new branch, I end up following that person and forgetting which resources I have already looked at! Thanks for any advice & have a happy Christmas, Tina

June

June Report 13 Dec 2005 11:24

Hi Tina, Have you not seen Pauls thread about spread sheet, I have just got one and they look great regards June

The Bag

The Bag Report 13 Dec 2005 11:30

I'd start with a simple piece of paper and pencil - to jot, rather than have to switch to a comp prog.

Heather

Heather Report 13 Dec 2005 12:11

ancestry have different forms you can download free.

Christine in Herts

Christine in Herts Report 13 Dec 2005 18:03

I'm an Excel addict, myself, so anything like that, I'd tend to go for a spreadsheet - columns already set up. You can even use conditional formatting to make particular results highlight themselves. Christine

Phoenix

Phoenix Report 13 Dec 2005 18:16

It doesn't matter much what method you use, providing you do it. Freebmd's saved searches are useful, so you can just check on updates. If you visit A2A - soon to move to the National Archives website - it is helpful to record the parameters you used for your search. This is time-consuming and boring, but I keep on discovering that I harvested that 'new' piece of information on a previous visit.

Just Jill x

Just Jill x Report 13 Dec 2005 18:42

If you're new to this game I'd agree with Jess. Don't go down the Spreadsheet line or you'll be ages working that out. Either jot down on paper or type out, whichever. The rest can come later. Jill

Merry

Merry Report 13 Dec 2005 19:00

Most family tree programs have somewhere you can type notes about an individual.....mine is full of things like: George DID NOT marry in Q2 1865.....That George was born in Bucks not Bedfordshire (from 1861 census....refs.....[whatever]). GRO index searched 1842-1845 for the birth reg. No joy. There is NO RECORD of Fred at the 1901 census address in the Electoral Roll 1896-1904 etc etc etc .......At least I know what they mean!!! Merry

An Olde Crone

An Olde Crone Report 13 Dec 2005 19:21

I use some simple search sheets which I designed myself, mainly for PR searching, but you could adapt them for anything. Suppose I am searching a PR between 1688-1819, for instance. I list every year 3 times (B,M,D) and tick off that year when I have searched it. I also write things like 'unreadable' or 'page missing' - this saves a lot of later headscratching, wondering if I looked at 1799 or not. Olde Crone